


The Autumn Moon Is Bright

by Megalodont



Category: American Werewolf in London (1981), Ginger Snaps (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover Pairings, F/F, Investigations, London, Travel, Werewolf Culture, Werewolves, references to american werewolf in london
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:00:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9190637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megalodont/pseuds/Megalodont
Summary: "Twelve years ago he came here to England with his best friend, Jack Goodman and neither of them ever came back," I explained. Brigitte nodded, staring at me."And now you've come here for answers." She said, adjusting her position on the stool. "Did they ever say what killed them?" She asked."They said it was an escaped madman but those people David killed...He mauled them to death."





	

Twelve years ago my brother David Kessler and his best friend Jack Goodman took a trip to England, intent on backpacking up the countryside and then hitching a ride to Italy. They never made it. The trip cost both of them their lives. Jack first, then David, barely a month between. The British police told us it was an escaped madman who killed them and seven other people. I was ten when he died and like any good child I accepted this explanation as fact. I didn't know then what I know now. They never did capture this madman, they never actually gave us any kind of a police report and they never contacted us again with any leads or breaks in the case. How can a madman run rampant in England for twelve years? I accepted the police explanation of David's death until I was fourteen. It was then that I developed an interest in detective work. I stayed up late to watch shows like America's Most Wanted, Sixty Minutes, Dateline and 48 Hours. My parents could never understand what I was doing or what interested me in such things-they never did question David's death. As I listened earnestly to the hosts detail about the murders,it was in those long, drawn out hours that I realized several things about David's death did not make sense. Namely, the manner and the events surrounding it. It was then that I resolved to find out the truth about David. It was a mystery and I would not rest until I had it solved, to bring peace to me and to David. I'm twenty-two now and it's time for answers.

* * *

Staring up at the building above me, I fixed my memory on the number Dr. Alex Price occupied. She had been my brother's lover and was apparently the last person to see David alive. I trotted up to her flat, my mind swimming with possibilities. Despite the twelve long years since David's death, Dr. Price had not moved from the same flat she had brought David into. Would she be up to talking about him? Apparently, despite the years, Alex had never married. Had she loved David so much that she simply could not love another? Or was she just consumed with guilt over his death? I was determined I would find out soon enough. I exhaled softly, before I knocked on the door quietly. 

"Just a moment!" Came the reply. There was a slight commotion on the other side of the door, before it was flung open.

"Um hello...Can I help you?" The middle aged, brunette woman asked. She was a little short for her age, but I supposed it wasn't an issue here.

"Yes, actually. My name is Rachel Kessler, my brother was"

"David." She cut me off. She blanched for a minute, swallowing and giving me a quick once-over.

"Yes." I nodded. Her face suddenly hardened, her mouth forming a thin line and she huffed before answering me harshly.

"If you're here to accuse me of killing him, you can clear off now!" She snapped, moving to slam the door in my face.

"I just want the truth, Dr. Price!" I shouted, blocking the door with my hand. She immediately stiffened.

"The truth is David was shot and killed by a madman. There you are, happy?" She asked. 

"You and I both know that is a lie. If it were true, don't you think they would have caught this 'madman' after twelve years?" I argued. Dr. Price sighed, opening the door to allow me in.

"I've just put the kettle on." She said, shutting the door behind me. Her resolve seemed to have softened and looked more relaxed. I glanced around at her flat quietly, a slight chill running down on my back. Was this where David had slept, eaten and lived during the last days of his life? Had she changed anything at all over the years? These questions and more burned at my mind, begging and thirsting for answers. 

"You were the last person to see David alive, is that correct?" I asked, taking a seat. 

"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't think that David ever was truly alive during the time that I knew him. His last days were...Strange." She explained, taking a seat of her own to my left. 

"What do you mean, strange?" I asked, frowning.

"I mean, that during the entire time David was with me, he never at a scrap of food. And the morning of the day he died, David woke up in the zoo. He nearly got hiimself arrested and told a police officer he had commited six murders the night before. " I nodded. 

"Do you think he was still grief stricken about Jack Goodman?" I asked. 

"That's what I originally thought, but now..." Alex trailed off. I fixed my skirt and swallowed. 

"Oh" I said.

"You're really Rachel? David spoke about you at the hospital." Alex nodded. 

"I suppose you're reluctant to explain to me what really happened the night he died." I sighed. Dr. Price swallowed.

"David was shot by the police after he killed a man in a movie theatre. He mauled the man to death." She admitted.

"Mauled? Human being don't..."

"Rachel, don't you understand-David wasn't human when he killed that man. David kept saying that Jack wasn't killed by a man either. According to the police report, Jack was mutilated. What kind of animal could maul men to death?" Dr. Price asked. I had no answer.

"What kind of animal?" I asked.

"Rachel-your brother killed seven people when he wasn't in his right mind. Exactly three weeks after him and Jack were attacked. They were attacked on a full moon. David killed those people on a full moon." 

"What are you saying, that David was some kind of werewolf?" I frowned. 

"I saw it with my own two eyes, Rachel. He was a beast, a monster. When the police shot him, he became a human again." Alex continued. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"But werewolves aren't real. They can't possibly exist." I said.

"I used to think monsters didn't exist. But, I've seen too many things that science simply cannot explain. I would not hestate to say that David and Jac were attaced by a monster-possibly a werewolf." Alex said. I bit my lip in confusion.

"Than you,Dr. Price." I said, standing. 

"Wait, would you"

"No, I think we're quite done here." Alex frowned. 

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" She asked. 

"No...Well, yes, a little." 

"Please. I wasn't the only one who saw David that way! My former employer, Dr. Hirsch was investigating the incident at the Slaughtered Lamb in North York."

"Can I speak to him?" 

"No, I'm afraid Dr. Hirsch passed away two years ago. But, he left David's file with me before he passed. He told me to keep it, in case someone came asking question." Alex said. 

"Someone like...Me?" I asked, finally sitting down again.

"Yes. If you're interest in seeing it." She replied.

"I am." I nodded. Alex smiled, before walking over to a filing cabinet and retrieving a manilla envelope. The front had writing on it, which I could make out as  _Kessler, David._ I swallowed. Finally, she passed me the envelope and I pried the seal open. I exhaled softly, before I pulled the contents out. The first few pieces of paper were hospital forms. I checked them over thoroughly, before gleaning over a detail we hadn't been told. David's wounds had been cleaned and dressed before he made it to the hospital. I frowned. 

"How could"

"Dr. Hirsch had a theory. Check his notes, he understand it better than I do." Alex said. I flipped a few scraps of paper from a notebook. It was mostly scribbles about David's condition, starting from assessments of head trauma to nocturnal beast, and in between those were insights, indiscrepancies and the theories and police badgering. I blinked several times, before sighing. 

"I don't know if I understand all of this. I don't believe in vampires and faeries." I said. 

"It's not vampires and faeries you need to believe in,Rachel." She mumbled. 

"Still, I'm going to need to do more investigating." I nodded. Alex chewed her lip for a moment, before sighing. 

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" She asked. I nodded. 

"A motel downtown, although not until tomorrow as tonight, I have acquired lodgings elsewhere. Good day." I replied. "Do you mind if I borrow these?" I asked, holding up the manilla envelope.

"Keep them. I have no need for them any longer." Alex said. 


End file.
